What's their fault?

Catching up with my fiancee, her brother and her cousin at Woodside Inn in Colaba. We had some drinks, some snacks. We discussed about the shopping we had done (yours truly is tying the knot in Nov, thus) and joked about the dance preparation (or lack of it) for the Sangeet night. All this and some more and we decided to head to Falafal for dinner which is next door to Woodside Inn. On the way (5 steps between Woodside Inn and Falafal) I saw an old lady with a little boy (probably her grandson) having their food out of a crumpled silver foil. They were having rice with some watery gravy and the little boy had the most wonderful smile on his face. Maybe, he was happy to be having dinner with his grandmother, maybe he was happy to be having a full meal after a long time or, maybe just happy. I questioned (like many times before) the existence of a God (or whatever it is that decides which family and in what conditions will a child be born to) and if there really is one then why does he/she do it. What’s the child’s fault? The same child could have been born to some rich industrialist or even to a normal middle class family where his needs would be provided for, where he would be given the opportunity to become what he wanted to or where he would get at least an education.

Every time I see poor kids sitting on roadsides, or traffic signals or anywhere I feel ashamed for not being able to do anything for them. Giving a beggar some money is not going to solve any problem but that’s all I can do at that moment. Maybe even that's useless because that money might make its way to the ring leader or equals of those beggars. Irrespective, I have always wanted to donate to CRY, SavetheChildren or any such NGO working towards providing the basics of life to the underprivileged children.

The other day outside the regional Passport office while waiting for my agent (he was running late..damn these agents) and having a Veg Grill sandwich I saw a little boy and a girl (probably siblings) begging at the signal. After the lights turned green they came near the stall and sat down. The little girl looked up towards me and a sense of guilt struck me. There I was eating (just to kill time actually) away ignorant of the problems so many of those children face every minute of every day. I just asked the two kids if they would like to eat something..the little boy jumped up, turned around and looked at the shop and shyly said "Lassi". I got them a Lassi each and it was a such a satisfactory feeling I just can’t explain. I walked back towards the office looking back in between to see the kids sitting on the footpath drinking the Lassi and smiling at me. I can proudly say that I remember the happiness I felt that day much more than the loathing I felt towards the officer who rejected my Tatkal application. Damn these sarkari babus- they don’t even know their own rules or maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on him cos he just wanted some bribe.

How we live our daily lives- eat out of international food chains, buy branded clothes ignoring the problems millions of children face day in and day out is so appalling. For all our indifference, we could have been in their place. After all, we didn’t do anything to be born to the families we were to. There is no qualification for that..it’s just destiny. There’s nothing we do for them while at the same time cribbing about the petty things in life. I think all (well, most) of us should hang our heads in shame. I know i will.

India has gone to the Dogs!!!

A soldier dies and there’s absolutely no coverage in visual media (maybe a times new roman 8 with 20 words in print) but an anti-national (stone pelter, maoist, militant etc.) dies and the media goes into a frenzy. They go to the extent of showing their families wailing and air it prime time. It’s not that the soldiers (Army, BSF, ITBP, CRPF etc.) don’t have families or that their families don’t shed tears.

Barkha Dutt (who I respect and thus warrants space here) wants to give prime time to the anti nationals while happily painting the Indian soldier with one common brush..rapist, killer of innocent people, misuser of AFSPA. Barkha Dutt’s claim to fame is her brave and unprecedented (in India) coverage of the Kargil war but do give it a second thought while we are at it. She wasn’t there serving the nation or doing her normal duty. That was her chance to claim lime light and reach newer heights in her profession and she took it well. The ones she was covering fighting for the country were doing their duty. It wasn’t a shot at fame for those soldiers like it was for Barkha Dutt. The soldiers (women included) were not there because they got 'an opportunity of a lifetime' rather just because the bugle called. Barkha Dutt, through her exploits, earned the highest order of respect (deservedly so) and ears everytime she spoke or interviewed. The stature that she has earned should not be wasted on prejudiced TV shows or news reports and it would be in the best interest of India and journalism itself if she didn’t take sides and showed both sides of the story. Instead of empathizing with loss of life of an anti-national she should do journalism favour and take a more balanced and objective view. A life is a life..whether that of an anti-national or that of a soldier but think about it - the anti-national died working against the sovereignty of the country while the soldier died defending it. So you decide.

I don’t deny some (very very few actually) soldiers have wronged the society (for which they have been duly punished or are being tried) but to paint all of them with the same negative brush is treason of the highest order. And when the ‘responsible journalists’ do that they also show the plight of the ‘affected’ people thereby creating victims out of the culprits (if u go shooting or stone throwing at a soldier you cannot expect flowers in return). As a result the soldiers become the culprits.

On another day, I would recognize the important work that some journalists are doing but today I want to highlight what the majority of the TRP hungry journos are doing. I wish they would get out of their air-conditioned lives and see what a soldier goes through on just a normal day at his/her work. Instead of realizing AND recognizing what heroes our soldiers are they leave no stone unturned in making them the villains and creating heroes out of the anti-nationals.

This country has gone to the Dogs and the politicians and journalists are mainly to blame. Can’t expect better from politicians as most just care about votes, but again, most journos just care about TRPs. Cheap bloody journos!!!

Tarun Vijay has wonderfully put in words the feelings I have regarding this matter..read the poem at the end, brings tears to my eyes.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/whose-man-is-that-soldier-fighting-in-kashmir

Miss Chennai? Sure do..

‘How will you manage in Chennai?’, ‘What will you do in Chennai?’ are the kind of exclamations I got to hear every time I told people in the Noida office of my company that my location was Chennai and I was (happily) very much Chennai bound. To add some would offer ‘advice’…’See, you can ask for a transfer or a swap and you better do it while you are in induction’.

I was amused to say the least by people’s reactions. I had heard that Chennai was not very north Indian friendly and that you cannot survive if you don’t know the local language but coming from defense background and (by virtue of which) having travelled (AND stayed) a lot within India I was looking forward to moving to Chennai and exploring the place, seeing it with my own eyes and forming my own opinions.

After having spent around 14 months in Chennai- the land of movie fanatics, Sarvana Bhavan and of course the I.T. Highway I can confidently say it is as good and as bad as any other city in India (exclude South Mumbai because that’s a different world altogether). Liking Chennai or not is just down to what one wants from the city. It certainly isn’t how most ignorant people like to brand it; many of whom advised me to not move to Chennai.

It is a city which will welcome you with open arms (clichéd - I know) if you are open to its culture and the people…and why should you not be? After all, they say world over ‘When in Rome do as Romans do’. The people of Chennai are very gentle, pleasant and respectful. Most of them may not be very outspoken and frank (in the beginning) but are certainly very nice to talk to. The lowest denominator of the society are just like they are in any other place. Here though, I felt quite some hostility from them because I was a ‘Naarth Indian’. The city has some awesome restaurants and most of them are so much within budgetary range compared to their counterparts in say a Mumbai or a Delhi. I absolutely loved Bella Ciao and Sarvana Bhavan (I haven’t had better South Indian food). The city has a good small town feel to it, the traffic is way less (though very reckless especially on the OMR). Infact, only recently did the city’s second mall come up and now there are almost half a dozen ready to be opened. I hope the mall culture doesn’t spoil the small town feel of the city.

However, people there do have the very bad habit of starting on in the native language when accompanied by those who do not understand the language (and this is commonly observed even amongst the well educated people). But I guess this is the case with our Bengali brothers too..or maybe even with north Indians- only that I may not have observed it myself. Maybe then, it’s just an Indian thing.

The society does seem to be a little hypocrite though and Ar, a hard core Tamilian, backs me on that. Middle class people can’t be seen buying booze at TASMACs (the government controlled booze shops and there are only these in TN) - apparently boozing is only for the lower strata of the society and the high class. I remember once when Ar didn’t take off his helmet while purchasing booze at a TASMAC by the fear of being recognized by some Uncle/Aunty passing by :-D. It is perfectly fine for them to see and cheer on their favourite filmstars boozing and scantily clad women on screen but it’s not acceptable for your neighbour’s son to booze OR neighbour’s daughter to even wear a sleeveless top. In this respect, I think Chennai comes across as hypocrite. I guess that’s because people there are still too strongly hung onto their culture and ‘values’ while at the same time the world (even other parts of India) has moved on thus they feel caught in between. In time that should all be taken care of. Since I mentioned TASMAC I would like to apologise to Dr. Mallya here…I was guilty of buying ‘kalyani gold’ and what nots at the SAME PRICE(!!!) when my nearby TASMACs wouldn’t stock the usual booze brands. I have also had to have ‘Knight and Day’ brandy and again at the same price of your regular good quality brands. I think TASMACs are a big big rip off and one who has stayed ( and boozed :o) )outside TN can only understand what I mean. So, for the sake of the boozers in Chennai (especially the middle class boozers :0)) I hope TASMACS start stocking the regular brands more.

After having shifted to Mumbai now, for personal reasons, I actually realise what a nice place Chennai is (speaking of which I've actually recommended the place to R who has a good offer but is in dilemma since he will have to move from Dilwaalon ki Dilli to Namba Chennai). Needless to say, I would love to visit again. So, all my Chennai friends reading this...get married soon!!

On a whole Chennai is definitely a very good city but it lacks the enthusiasm and the energy that you can feel in a Mumbai or a Bangalore or in Delhi..maybe when I am a little older and want a more peaceful life then I would head Chennai wards..so long Chennai!

Now that it's over

The FIFA World Cup 2010 finals in South Africa was a grand event. It delivered less than what it promised but the Football on display was exceptional nonetheless. There were teams that played well, those that didn't and many that gave an expected account of themselves. Here are some of my thoughts.

Some of the expected
England- I am not one bit surprised by their round-of-16 exit. They were lucky to be in the round of 16 and progressing any further would have been a shocker in all senses. I mean the whole team couldn’t string together 3 passes in the whole tournament (err..whatever of it they were a part of) for crying out loud. The only people who expected more from this bunch was few English people who bought what the media said about the ‘Golden’ generation of English football. Each and every team in their group (Algeria, USA, Slovakia) let alone the WC finals was technically far superior than the English. It seems the so called 'stars of Premiership' shine only in the presence of the other hard working, technically gifted club players.

Argentia- Under Maradona they were overhyped as a team. Yes, they have some good attacking players AND Messi but to go further than they did they needed a tight backline which they lacked. Some individuals stood out.

Germany- If there is a team to watch in the future this is the one. BUT that is only if they believe in themselves unlike in the match against the Spanish where they sat back and wanted to catch the Spanish on counter. It’s best to play to ones own strengths rather than to nullify the opponent’s strengths.

Dutch- Have always underachieved. Guess that is the reason why they wanted to do anything to achieve this time around. Even if that meant displaying Kung-Fu on the pitch. They were one of the most physical teams in this tournament but that should not take away from them the quality they showed throughout the tournament. I think they are being given a hard deal by the media. If kicking the opponent is cheating then so is diving.

Some unexpected
Italy – I thought Zizou gifted them the 2006 WC in the form of that (in)famous head-butt. Or maybe I am being too harsh..Either way, at hind sight, i think they went as far as they deserved to.

France – I thought all I would say is Raymond Domenech but in all honesty all I will say is Patrice Evra!! That should sum up France’s dismal trip to SA. Lead by example has a new meaning now.

Uruguay – Led by their talismanic striker Diego Forlan had a run to remember in the WC. They were WC winners the earlier days of the tournament 1930 and 1950 when not many European teams took part in the competition. This run, though not a winning one, will be up there with the earlier glory moments.

Ghana- If any African nation (or any underdog for that matter) deserved to reach the quarters it was Ghana. They were a team that played attacking Football with the flair like any South American country. They surely have a bright future.

Refereeing- Couldn’t have been more controversial (and poorer) given the tournament of this magnitude. It was inconsistent, unpunishing-to-diving-and-play-acting, unbelievably rubbish at times...so much so that it stirred up controversies around what could have been had the ones with the whistles been better at their jobs - England, Mexico might have more to add to this.

Media- They are a joke and will always be. They started drooling all over for Spain even before a ball was kicked and it showed throughout the tournament. Now, I am not for a minute saying that Spain didn’t deserve to win. They played, by far, the best Football but they also dived the most, play-acted the most, tried-to-influence the referee the most which the inept media chose to ignore. The Spanish are as much cheats as the Portuguese or the Italians. The same media which lauds the physical side of the game of most English clubs (Bolton, Stoke, Blackburn et. al.) labeled the Dutch as Thugs after the final. Huh!

FIFA- If there is a job in the world which has no performance evaluation system in place then here is where it is. I really do not understand what they do and get paid for. In this day and age for some reasons they refuse to use technology. I understand that technology will take away some of the human element from refereeing and will also bring in halts into the games but SOME technology at least…Goal Line Technology for crying out loud!!?!!

Newer heights of Mediocrity

Four of us (me, Ar, Ad, Gunman) started from our humble abode aboard Ad’s swift (my a-star just wouldn’t seat us comfortably) picking up S on the way. We had managed to get our tickets through A’s friend and what an achievement it itself was. As, one ad rightly says ‘the biggest ticket in town’- IPL T20. Chennai Super Kings were entertaining Deccan Chargers at home – MA Chidambaram stadium at Chepauk. We knew parking would be a pain around the stadium so Ar advised that we better leave our wheels at Marina beach and take onto the three-wheeler(auto if you would) from there on. It was a task in itself to find a parking spot on Marina beach on that Sunday evening and after one full length we realized we weren’t the only smart ones. So, we turned back to find 4X2 m (or less) for Ad’s car. Finally, after being good Samaritans - we helped one person with his parking and also got our space in the process.

We took an auto and the driver happily agreed to fit all 5 of us in it on our short ride to the stadium. Surprisingly, the cops at the signal where we waited for a good 6-7 mins didn’t blink an eye at the sight of 5 (mix of healthy and bulky) of us struggling to stay within the frame of the three-wheeler. I thought they would wave us to a side for this transgression but they simply waved us on as the light turned green. Maybe they have bigger things (but like what??) to worry about than stopping an auto for plying at overcapacity.

We were supposed to meet V outside the stadium near the entry gate but that never happened. Had we envisaged the management (or lack of it) we would have not planned it like that. But that was hardly a disappointment (probably cos we weren’t there with our families) compared to the excitement the frenzy outside the stadium brought about. It was crazy…people draped in yellow blowing their lungs into those paper bugles. I was particularly impressed with a group of Deccan Chargers supporters who were face painting for free. Gunman thought of getting his face done (being a proud APite that he is) but our line had started moving and we didn’t wanna get late. Next time Gunman! Me being too critical of the mismanagement of the crowd could because I am a biased Mumbaikar who is fine with the idea of being pushed around on his way to office but not on his way to the cricket match :o). On second thought, local trains do have separate gents and ladies compartments.

My previous IPL outing was at Wankhede (IPL-I) and though the management was too good the crowd was nowhere close to the Chennai crowd. The Tamil masses were charged up to no end…awesome atmosphere. Little did they know that the Chargers will spoil the party. The row ahead of us was full of DC supporters so Gunman had good company, he even borrowed their placard charts for those Kodak moments. V joined us in as we couldn’t find him outside the stadium. I am not going to write about the match as it is not supposed to be a match report- we all know it was a non-contest with CSK unable to chase the total put up by DC. However, an incident on the ground during the DC innings is worth mentioning (actually is the reason for the title :P). There was a stray dog running around on the ground during the play. Initially, the play stopped and there was a less-than-half-hearted attempt to chase him out of the playing area but to no avail. And then, we Indians showcased our adjusting nature by letting the dog stay on the ground for good 12-13 overs of the first innings. Maybe it was a ploy by CSK to have another fielder on the pitch which nobody objected to ;-). The dog was having a gala time- running around the inner circle, occasionally being shoo-shooed by the players… all this while the match was going on. Guess the dog caught the best possible cricketing action- talk about VIP passes. Huh! Someone mentioned jokingly that that was actually a display of high security provided by the police- the dog was a sniffer dog. :-D

Now, I can totally understand if a dog had wanders into any ground, building, and place in India. I mean after all it is India and we have too many of those stray dogs and I truly believe they can actually get in anywhere. But atleast and I mean ATLEAST try to get it out of the pitch (that it had come in) – it’s a $4.13 billion brand after all this IPL. For Mr. Lalit Modi’s sake? The bloody game is being telecast to the whole world and this is what impression we cast on the world. The 1st world countries don’t think highly of us anyway and incidents like these don’t help one bit.

Anyway, I had a great time watching as a neutral and witnessing bantering between the majority home crowd and the dozen or so DC supporters in our stand. At break we went out looking for some thirst quenching liquid and some would-have-been-heavenly snack but only found empty stalls (we were too late), however, we finally spotted a fruit stall and savoured some life-giving fruits.

Getting out of the stadium was much easier, probably because most dejected home fans had left by then. V and Gunman had to bid farewell to the DC cheerleaders who were really awesome. More so because one of the CSK cheerleaders was a guy (that’s not the problem) who was... EXERCISING!!! Even I could put up a better show than him that too without being drunk. Honest.

Ar pointed out yesterday that he read about the (THE) dogs on the ground the other day in an article which said they had grown up in the ground and that they didn’t bite! What a piece of information to mention in an article. Ways to hide our mediocrity anyone???

he isn't that kind of a guy..

well, then who the f**k in Football is??? I mean which Football player goes out to with the intention to break fellow professionals' legs. It isn't a football game played at the central jail (if you would) that there would be that kind of players. It is just that these players are dangerous and while the world has moved on from the early years of 20th century the game itself hasn't moved...well, not much in England.

On the contrary, the subject in question is exactly that kind of a guy...Ryan Shawcross has broken 2 legs and caused serious injury to others keeping them out for months (season in case of the former) all at just 22yrs of age. It may not be intentional but is clearly a sign of dangerous play so a 3 match ban for career threatening leg break, in all my wisdom, is not just.

That said, what amazes me is the British media..there have been more articles feeling sorry for Shawcross than for AR-16 (whose leg got broke into two). The apathy shown towards AR-16 just screams of bias and hypocrisy. It is utterly unbelievable hearing people coming out in support of the 'good lad' that is Shawcross, hoping that he comes out of the trauma that he has had to go through. Damn that 19 yr old super talented AR-16 for breaking his leg on Shawcross' boots!! Who cares whether AR-16 will be able to play again we just want Shawcross to come over this...huh!!!

It is so funny how blatantly biased most ex-players and football pundits are when they forget Shawcross' past record and try to pass it off as an unfortunate accident. Well, it is unfortunate but accident it is not- when a coach tells their players to compensate for their lack of obvious talent by kicking the opponents hard this is what is bound to happen. For me Shawcross is the product of coaches who think roughing up the opponents is fine, media who showcase this as grit, commitment and physicality, ex-players and pundits who just say anything that is in favour of the British style of play or players themselves. Somebody ask them if Italians, Spaniards and Brazilians are any less committed. However, there are sane and objective people (media and ex-players included)who can call a spade a spade and have rightly criticised the rash tackles that still prevail in the game and have asked for more action to be taken against offenders. Don't for a second think that i don't like the physical aspect of the game...it is a contact sport and we all love it for this but dangerous and reckless play has no place in any sport.

Wenger is rightly cross and agitated after seeing 3rd of his players being stretchered off the pitch with broken (and i mean snapped into two or more) and hanging legs (ankles) as results of reckless and dangerous tackles all within 4 years. As Wenger rightly said 'I don't believe in coincidences'..Sir, you don't have to because this is no coincidence. This is a result of the conventional wisdom spread around by the media about Arsenal 'not liking it rough'. After the incident the team gelled together like never before (in this season) and came out flying. AR-16 has Edu-9 and AD-2 to look up to in getting on and coming out of this injury.

All these media persons, these pundits, coaches etc. jumping to Shawcross' defence seem to miss the point here. Would all people still defend Shawcross if his tackle had left Rooney's leg hanging in mid air??? I think not.

Lost Friends

By virtue of being from a Defense family I have travelled a lot and made a lot of friend but what hurts is that i have also lost a lot of those friends along the way. Going through old albums or school chronicles reminds me of the great times and friendships I had with some of those and how they are now lost in time.

Sometimes when I do happen to get in touch with them again (thanks to the orkuts of the world) it always isn’t the feeling that I had expected would take over me. Don’t get me wrong but we grow up into different individuals in different surroundings and circumstances; even though i enjoy remembering the old times i really am unable to relate with some of them now. In fact, it would be easier talking to complete strangers than some old friends because you know you have to start fresh. Whereas with old friends, it isn't that easy.

It is like this, most of us have had some teenage crush or love (for the serious ones..he he) and do remember how much we used to like them but when face to face with them again we hardly feel the same. Let alone feeling the same we find it unbelievable that we liked them at some point in our lives. It is just that we tend to grow into completely different individuals but had we stayed together our growing up would have affected each others’ and we may have been different than what we are today. In which case, we would still like them and be their friends (more importantly be able to relate to them)..hmmm!

This brings me back to the old lost and found friends- I have met a few of them till date. While the idea of catching up with some evoked great enthusiasm and excitement it didn’t quite excite me as much when it came to others. Infact, I don’t even know at times what to talk to some of them. I guess, in some cases its best to not find your lost friends as their last memories are the wonderful ones which you always will cherish.